So, today my work-related travels took me through some serious backwoods Amish country. . . man, that is some weird culture. It's like another world. And it friggin' sucks when you come over a hill at sixty or seventy MPH and find a semi in the oncoming lane and one of those damn buggies in your lane. D'OH! On the other hand, I suppose it is kinda cool if you're into checking out places like Yoder's Antique Furniture Barn or Heinni's Cheese Chalet. Those sound pretty cool, right?
Seriously though. . . thinking about the Amish trips me out. What must it be like to grow up that way? At what point do you realize just how different yor life is from the rest of the world around you? I really wonder about that. It would seem so obvious from an outside perspective, but most of their little communities are so isolated. . . perfect setting to nurture a little cult.
Speaking of which, my recommended book of the day is Escape by Carolyn Jessop. It's the autobiography of a woman who fled the FLDS (the fundamentalist Mormons) after being forced into an arranged marriage as an adolescent and living as a polygamous wife. It's some crazy, scary shit. Not especially well-written, but it doesn't need to be-- the subject matter is plenty interesting without any literary embellishment. It's almost hard to believe that some of the things she went through can actually happen in this country, in this day and age. They live in these little communities in Utah and northern Arizona, and because such a high number of local police and govenrment officials are a part of the faith, they get away with shit that you wouldn't think was possible. Nasty, twisted shit like marrying off teenage girls to crusty old men who already have half a dozen wives. Parts of it made my skin crawl. And her description of living in one home with three other wives and twenty-plus children is pretty much horrifying.
Yea, good stuff.
On a lighter note, my tomato and pepper plants are bustin' out all over. I just canned my first batch of salsa for the year, and it's pretty damn good. It's labor-intensive, but well worth it.
Seriously though. . . thinking about the Amish trips me out. What must it be like to grow up that way? At what point do you realize just how different yor life is from the rest of the world around you? I really wonder about that. It would seem so obvious from an outside perspective, but most of their little communities are so isolated. . . perfect setting to nurture a little cult.
Speaking of which, my recommended book of the day is Escape by Carolyn Jessop. It's the autobiography of a woman who fled the FLDS (the fundamentalist Mormons) after being forced into an arranged marriage as an adolescent and living as a polygamous wife. It's some crazy, scary shit. Not especially well-written, but it doesn't need to be-- the subject matter is plenty interesting without any literary embellishment. It's almost hard to believe that some of the things she went through can actually happen in this country, in this day and age. They live in these little communities in Utah and northern Arizona, and because such a high number of local police and govenrment officials are a part of the faith, they get away with shit that you wouldn't think was possible. Nasty, twisted shit like marrying off teenage girls to crusty old men who already have half a dozen wives. Parts of it made my skin crawl. And her description of living in one home with three other wives and twenty-plus children is pretty much horrifying.
Yea, good stuff.
On a lighter note, my tomato and pepper plants are bustin' out all over. I just canned my first batch of salsa for the year, and it's pretty damn good. It's labor-intensive, but well worth it.
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coccinelle